Lawmakers in the largest city of New Mexico are pushing once again to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Later this week, Rey Garduño and Isaac Benton of the Albuquerque City Council are expected to submit a proposal aimed at stripping away the criminal penalties associated with low-level pot offenses. The two lawmakers are suggesting a replacement code that would simply allow people busted for pot to pay a small fine rather than being sent to jail.

In addition, a secondary measure will be filed in conjunction with the decriminalization bill that would force the Albuquerque Police Department to make marijuana enforcement their lowest level of priority.

“Incarcerating people through this failed War on Drugs for possessing a small amount of marijuana is creating criminals where none exist,” Garduño, president of the Albuquerque city council, said in a statement.

The latest effort to reduce pot penalties in the city of Albuquerque is a comeback crack at putting to bed some unfinished business from last year. A similar measure received almost unanimous approval by the city council in 2014, but it was ultimately snuffed out by the veto power of Mayor Richard Berry.

Let’s face it: if you want to keep your lungs healthy, smoke is bad. Yet, when it comes to marijuana’s effect on your lungs, that simple fact comes with a huge and complicated “BUT…”

The number one risk of inhaling smoke into your lungs is lung cancer. Be it smoke from tobacco or from a campfire, ashen plant particles in your lungs are never good.

Yet, somehow, this fact fails to hold true for weed smokers. Is this a natural anomaly? Well, kind of.Recent studies show that regular cannabis users are as likely to get lung cancer as the average person.

Weird, right? How is that possible? Well, we’ve got the scoop. Here’s all you’ve ever needed to know about the effects of smoking marijuana, and how to keep your lungs healthy while doing it:

In a little over three weeks from now, I will make my first legal purchase at a marijuana outlet in Oregon. It will not be my first time ever purchasing marijuana at a legal store, as I have already made a purchase in Washington and Colorado, but I haven’t made one in Oregon yet since it’s not legal to do so yet. But come October 1st, I will be one of the many people standing in line waiting make my first legal recreational marijuana purchase in Oregon. I personally plan to go to Panacea in Portland for my first purchase, and encourage others to do the same. To see why, check out a recent article I wrote about Panacea. I put together a list of reasons why I prefer to purchase marijuana from a licensed store, as opposed to the black market (if you have reasons to add, please do so in the comments!):

Supports Strong Communities

One of the first reasons that I offer up for why I prefer stores over the black market is that my purchase helps support strong communities. A portion of every dollar that I spend at a store in Oregon goes to schools, law enforcement (to fight REAL crime!), and for substance abuse assistance. I’m willing to pay a little more when I know my dollars are going to those things. The same cannot be said when I make a purchase from the black market, where my dollars go who knows where.

More Variety

Something that no black market dealer can compete with compared to a licensed outlet is variety and selection. Even the most experienced black market dealer will only have a handful of strains. Compare that to a store that has so many different strains at any given time that they have to keep a rolling menu to track all of it. Buying one kind of dank is great, but having five kinds of dank is even better!